AARON JUDGE COULD BE SPECIAL – EVEN FOR THE YANKEES
New York Yankees gigantic rookie slugger Aaron Judge has become the story of the 2017 Major League Baseball season.
Judge was 4-for-4 with a titanic 496-foot home run in Sunday’s 14-3 romp over the bewitched, bothered and bewildered Baltimore Orioles.
Since the Rookie of the Year awards began in 1947, the Yankees have had eight American League Rookie of the Year winners.
Since the official Most Valuable Awards began in 1931, the Yankees have had 12 players win the American League MVP a total of 30 times.
Only one Yankee was AL Rookie of the Year and later AL MVP: Thurman Munson in 1970 and 1976.
Judge can’t possibly maintain his current pace. He might be due to hit a long slump. But right now, he appears to have a chance to be AL Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.
The only MLB players ever to earn Rookie of the and MVP in the same season were Fred Lynn of the Boston Red Sox in 1975, Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981 and Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners in 2001.
Entering Monday, Judge was leading the American League in batting average (.344), home runs (21), runs-batted-in (47) and total bases (150). He is second to sidelined Mike Trout in slugging percentage (.742) and OPS -- n-base percentage + slugging percentage – 1.168.
And this 6-foot-7, 280-pound player is much more than a hitter. He plays a solid right field and he can run well for a man his size.
Judge is surprising a lot of people. Here are the ratings for Judge on the list of prospects by three prominent rating services:
Pre-2015 -- Baseball America 53rd...Major League Baseball 68th...Baseball Prospectus 49th
Pre-2016 – Baseball America 76th...Major League Baseball 31st...Baseball Prospectus 18th
Pre-2017 – Baseball America 90th...Major League Baseball 45th...Baseball Prospectus 63rd.
Let’s compare Judge’s performance lines from the past two seasons:
2015 Trenton (Class AA) 63 games; .284 batting average; 12 HRs; 44 RBI; 70 strikeouts in 250 at-bats.
2015 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA) 61 games; .224 batting average; 8 HRs; 29 RBI; 74 strikeouts in 228 at-bats
2016 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA) – 93 games; .270 batting average; 19 HRs; 65 RBI; 98 strikeouts in 352 at-bats.
2016 New York Yankees (MLB) – 27 games; .179 batting average; 4 HRs; 10 RBI; 42 strikeouts in 84 at-bats.
Judge’s improvement this season compared to last season is breathtaking.
GOLDEN STATE FAVORED BY 8 ½ POINTS MONDAY VS. VISITING CAVS
The Golden State Warriors can wrap up the 2017 NBA championship at home Monday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the Finals.
The Warriors are favored by 8 ½ points and I believe they’ll get the job done.
Why? Because Cavs stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving can’t play any better than they did in the Game 3 loss and the Game 4 win in Cleveland. And I don’t believe their supporting cast can chip in enough to help post a second straight win. Do you trust JR Smith? If you do, you’re the ultimate Cleveland fan.
For the record, here were the lengths of the 67 previous NBA Finals:
Four-game sweeps – 8 times
Five games – six times
Six games – 24 times.
Seven games – 19 times. The first was the Rochester Royals over the New York Knickerbockers in 1951.
The trusty FiveThirtyEight computer now lists the championship probabilities at Golden State 98 percent and Cleveland 2 percent.
CAN THE PENGUINS THREE-PEAT?
The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the host Nashville Predators 2-0 Sunday night to win the Stanley Cup in the sixth game of the best-of-seven series.
The Penguins are the first back-to-back Stanley Cup champions since the Detroit Red Wings in the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons.
Of the four major sports in North America, the NHL has the most parity – particularly in the playoffs.
The last 20 seasons have produced 11 different Stanley Cup champions – Detroit (4 times), Chicago (3), Pittsburgh (3), Los Angeles Kings (2), New Jersey Devils (2), Anaheim, Boston. Carolina, Colorado, Dallas and Tampa Bay.
The last team to win three straight Stanley Cups was the New York Islanders. They won four in a row (1979-80 through 1982-83 seasons) – just after the Montreal Canadiens won four in a row (1975-78 through 1978-79 seasons). The Edmonton Oilers won four Stanley Cups in a five-year span from 1983-84 through 1987-88.
IF NASHVILLE COULD DO IT, WHY NOT BUFFALO?
One of the top stories of the Stanley Cup Finals was the way the city of Nashville embraced the Predators. Everyone in the area became a hockey fan, including the country music fraternity. Around 50,000 fans gathered to watch Game 7 on streets outside the arena.
Can you imagine how excited Western New York would be with the Buffalo Sabres in the Finals?
Many other cities support their pro teams when they’re winning. Fans of the Sabres and NFL Bills are remarkably loyal no matter how the teams fare.
The Predators have posted winning records in 12 of the last 13 seasons and made the playoffs 10 times over that span. The Sabres have missed the playoffs 8 of the last 10 seasons and last won a playoff series in 2007.
Buffalo has outdrawn Nashville every regular season since the Predators joined the NHL in the 1988-89 season. In fairness, Nashville has a smaller arena.
SYRACUSE CRUNCH ARE STILL ALIVE – BARELY
The Syracuse Crunch trail the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-2 in the best-of-seven American Hockey League Calder Cup Finals.
The next two games will be played in Grand Rapids: Tuesday and Wednesday (if necessary).
Hockey was a big deal in Syracuse last weekend:
Friday – Syracuse, trailing 2-1 in the series, lost 3-2 at home before 6,523 fans – the largest crowd oor a Syracuse AHL game since March 22, 1997.
Saturday – Syracuse poured in five goals in the first period and went on to win 5-1 to reduce their deficit in games to 3-2 before 6,479 fans.
The Syracuse Stars won the first Calder Cup in 1937 and Syracuse hasn’t won it since. Grand Rapids won the Calder Cup in 2013 – in six games over Syracuse.
GEORGIA SWARM ARE THE NLL CHAMPIONS
The Georgia Swarm defeated the host Saskatchewan Rush 15-14 in overtime last Saturday night to capture the first National Lacrosse League Champion’s Cup in the 13-year history of the franchise.
The Swarm thwarted Saskatchewan’s bid to join the 2012-13-14 Rochester Knighthawks as the only winner of three straight NLL championships.
Fittingly, Georgia is loaded with personnel with Rochester connections. Swarm coach Ed Comeau coached the Knighthawks in 2006-2007-2008. The 2007 team won the Champion’s Cup. Former Knighthawks Johnny Powless and Jordan Hall played for the Knighthawks. Joel White, Jordan McIntosh and John Ranagan play for the Major League Lacrosse Rattlers and now can rejoin the outdoor team.
Georgia swept the best-of-three series 2-0. Saturday night’s loss stunned the crowd of 14,264 at Saktel Centre in Saskatoon. The Rush led 14-13 and had possession of the ball with 11 seconds remaining in regulation when coach Derek Keenan pulled his goalie. His theory was that Georgia had an extra attacker and adding an extra floor player would negate that advantage. The strategy backfired when Saskatchewan lost possession of the ball and Georgia’s Joel White scored the tying goal on a rebound with 2.8 seconds left in regulation.
Miles Thompson scored the title-winning goal 1:17 into overtime on a pass from brother Lyle Thompson, who was selected Champion’s Cup Most Valuable Player.
CAPTAIN BOLTUS AND ROOKIES HELP RATTLERS OUTLAST CHESAPEAKE BAYHAWKS
Are the Major League Lacrosse Rochester Rattlers catching on in our lacrosse-loving community?
A decent crowd of 2,029 watched the Rattlers outlast the Chesapeake Bayhawks, 17-16, in overtime Saturday evening. U.S. Army captain Jeremy Boltus continued his torrid scoring pace with five goals and was selected Coca Cola Player of the Game for the second straight time.
Rochester rookies Eric Fennell (3) and Zed Williams (2) combined for five goals, including Williams’ game winner in OT. Ned Crotty had 1 goal and 4 assists. Former Syracuse star goalie John Galloway had 17 and was voted Third Star of the Game.
Joel Byrne had 7 goals for Chesapeake and indoor superstar Shawn Evans had 3 goals.
Rattlers coach/GM Tim Soudan traded standout Jojo Marasco back to the New York Lizards last week for a future draft pick. That’s a good sign. Soudan said it was a “numbers game” -- and a few picks from the recent college draft were major contributors in the win over Chesapeake and Joel White, Jordan McIntosh and John Ranagan are on the way back from their MLL playoff obligations.
RHINOS HAVE ONE LOSS IN 10 USL GAMES
The Rhinos are doing their best to revive the echoes of Rochester’s pro soccer past.
Just about all coach Bob Lilley’s hard-working team does is win – or draw.
The Rhinos were 0 wins-2 draws-0 losses on last week’s two-game trip to Florida: 1-1 ties at the Orlando City SC Wednesday and at the Tampa Bay Rowdies Saturday.
There are 30 teams in the United Soccer League. Only four of those teams have fewer than two losse this season:
San Antonio FC – 9 wins, 0 losses, 4 draws
Real Monarchs – 11 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws
Louisville City FC – 5 wins, 1 loss, 5 draws
Rochester – 4 wins, 1 loss, 5 draws.
The Rhinos play the Major League Soccer New England Revolution Wednesday at Providence College in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Rochester will host Ottawa Fury FC Saturday, 6:05 p.m., at Capellii Sport Stadium.
SHORT SHOTS
Allow me to toot my horse handicapping performance for a change. In this column last Friday, I correctly forecast Saturday’s Belmont Stakes Trifecta in exact 1-2-3 order. Tapit-Irish War Cry-Patch (numbers 2-7-12) returned $624 for a $2 bet. I missed the $4,486 Superfecta (first four finishers in order) when Gormley edged Senior Investment by ¼ length for fourth.
Major League Lacrosse had four games Saturday and home teams won them all – three in overtime. Home teams now are a mere 11-19 at home this season.
The Yankees have a franchise-best 98 home runs through 59 games.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
Monday, June 12
Jrue Holiday (27)...Dallas Clark (38)...Antawn Jamison (41)...Hideki Matsui (43)...Ryan Klesko (46)...Mark Henry (46)...Damon Buford (47)...Marv Albert (76). George H.W. Bush (93) is invited to the birthday party.
Tuesday, June 13 – Amir Abdullah (24)...Hassan Whiteside (28)...Jason Spezza (34)...Steve Novak (34)...Vasleri Bure (43)...Sam Adams (44)...David Littman (50)...Jeff Wright (54)...Hannah Storm (55)...Keith Moody (64)...Ted Cottrell (70).